Farm Bureau offers four free professional development workshops for educators

LOUISVILLE – Although the school year has come to a close, the hard work that teachers put into classroom preparation and improving their instructional techniques continues on through the summer. To aid those efforts, Kentucky Farm Bureau (KFB) invites educators from across the state to attend one of its four free professional development workshops held in early June.

The day-long workshops are designed to address Kentucky’s core educational competencies while showcasing a variety of state and national agricultural curricula. Workshops will also emphasize the value of incorporating gardening into all areas of curriculum through easy-to-replicate interdisciplinary lessons. These thematic lessons and materials incorporate mathematics, social studies, English and science through real-life application in indoor and outdoor training sessions. Chartered tours of local agricultural operations will further highlight the practical environmental and agricultural information so that it can easily be translated into a classroom setting.

“The primary objective of these professional development opportunities is to better enable educators to incorporate agricultural concepts in the classroom,” said Scott Christmas, KFB’s Director of Women and Agricultural Education. “This thematic style of education can increase children’s interest in learning and enables them to retain subject matter more readily.”

In addition to the training and resources made available through these workshops, the 400-450 teachers anticipated to attend may earn six hours of professional development hours. Effective Instructional Leadership Act (EILA) credits will be given to principals, guidance counselors and other instructional leaders who participate.

Workshop Location and Dates:

• Lake Barkley Resort Lodge, Cadiz – June 17

• Barren River Lake Resort Lodge, Lucas – June 18

• Spindletop Hall, Lexington – June 19

• Sawyer Hayes Community Center, Louisville – June 20

The workshop registration fee has been waived for all Kentucky educators, compliments of Kentucky Farm Bureau, but registration is required for attendance. Teachers can register online at kyfb.com/teacher prior to the June 7 deadline.

Workshop agendas and additional details about conference speakers and activities are available at kyfb.com. Further questions regarding these educational opportunities can be directed to Scott Christmas, Director of Women and Agricultural Education, at (502) 495-5000, ext. 7221.